"“We saw a couple of Asian people walking around on the ship with masks,” said Sue Millais, 72, of upstate Johnstown.
“The couple we sat next to said they noticed that they had seen some Chinese people with masks on and they looked like they weren’t feeling well. They should have never let them on.”
Eileen Burnley, 74, of Denver, said, “We had all kinds of precautions on the ship” that were never explained.
“We couldn’t go in the dining room without washing hands. We couldn’t go into large venues without washing hands,” she said."
Oh god. A guy in a mask freaks someone out?! And good grief. They were forced to wash hands! Excuse me, these people sound like pigs. Aren’t you SUPPOSED TO wash your hands before eating?!!
ETA: Somehow I didn’t see the posts before this, including BB’s. Sorry for essentially a repeat post lol. I think I had the tab up for a while without realizing it and the last few posts were posted in the mean time.
From Artist’s link: (Which, first of all, is NY Post which is a gossip rag and known to be a racist publication so take it with a whole helping of salt)
Yeah, my xenophobia fears are totally unfounded. ?
Wearing masks is a pretty normal thing among a lot of Asian populations. Both my undergrad and grad universities have large Asian/Asian American populations and seeing masks is nothing out of the ordinary. At all.
Given the fact that there was a possibility of cruise exposure, it is possible that their test kits got moved to the front of the line.
You’ll be happy to know, however, that RCCL has since banned anyone from boarding who has a Chinese, Hong Kong or Macau passport from boarding its ships “regardless of when they were there last." Because, you know, logically a passport/citizenship status is what makes one a carrier or not ?
not sure why you keep making this point.
I agree there are people who are racist and who dislike Asians. There are racists who dislike many people.
I am concerned about the virus.
If you have been following the media coverage, those who were in the affected area of China could be carrying the virus with no symptoms. The virus was spreading since late December.
Not sure anyone can say that the 27 Chinese passengers were not in the Wuhan area or had a friend, co-worker, relative who was from the Wuhan area who they came in contact with prior to leaving China for the cruise.
They may have come into contact with passengers from the Wuhan area on their flight to the U.S.
It was reported that there were at least 4 passengers who were feeling unwell on the cruise. They were taken to Newark where they remain - awaiting the results of the CDC test.
If the CDC was able to test and clear the remaining 23 Chinese passengers on Friday, why weren’t they able to clear these four as well?
There was enough reason to be cautious and not allow 4000 people to leave the ship.
I pray nothing comes of it, and the remaining four Chinese passengers in Newark be able to return home.
“There are now 40 cases of the Wuhan coronavirus in Singapore…Seven new cases were announced by the Singaporean Ministry of Health today, five of which were linked to previously known infections. Amongst the confirmed cases, two have been discharged. Of the remaining 38, most are stable or improving. Four are in critical condition in the intensive care unit, and one requires additional oxygen support,” the ministry statement said. The seven new infections range in age from 36 to 64 and none of them have any recent travel history to mainland China." (CNN)
“The U.S. will temporarily suspend regular visa services in mainland China from Monday as the coronavirus epidemic leaves it with “limited staffing.” The U.S. embassy in Beijing and consulates in Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenyang may not be able to respond to requests on regular visa services but may make available some emergency appointments, according to a statement on its website Saturday.” (Bloomberg)
The passport thing had me thinking though… my BIL and baby nephew are both dual US/Japanese citizens and have both Japanese and US passports. Obviously, to come into the US they use their US passport and to go into Japan they use their Japanese passports but let’s say the ban gets extended to Japan (just for this hypothetical). Because they’re Japanese passport holders, even though they’re also US passport holders, would they be denied on RCCL?
I’ve just never had to think about this before so it made me curious.
“At least eight more patients in Hong Kong tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday…bringing the total…to 35. All…are from the family of a young male patient who also returned positive test results on Saturday evening. One…is the male patient’s grandmother who had no travel history to…Wuhan. Her infected grandson had shared a hotpot with about 20 relatives from Hong Kong and mainland China…The woman is also a cancer patient and has been receiving radiotherapy.” (SCMP)
@doschicos —the article I read says it’s not clear whether the grandmother who is now infected was present or shared the hotpot with infected grandson. Also not clear whether grandson was symptomatic (shedding more virus) at the time the hotpot was shared.
That’s pretty impossible for most illnesses - to go back and pinpoint when someone was shedding and contagious, even more for this illness where so much is still unknown.
“All passengers and crew members on the World Dream cruise ship quarantined in Hong Kong can leave the vessel on Sunday, with control measures completed, health authorities said.
All 1,800 crew members on board, who possibly had contact with eight passengers infected with the new coronavirus on a previous trip, tested negative for the disease”
2nd confirmed case in Spain, on the island of Mallorca.
"The northern Chinese province of Hebei will keep its schools shut until at least March 1 to control the coronavirus outbreak, the Communist Party-run People’s Daily newspaper said, citing the local education bureau.
Hebei, which surrounds the capital Beijing, is one of a number of provinces and municipalities to extend the school shutdown until the end of the month, with others including Shandong, Jiangsu and Shanghai." (Aljazeera)
I do not blame the cruise industry. They are trying to limit their risk that anyone boarding has travelled to China or nearby areas recently, and it is more likely those with the affected passports have engaged in such travel than others. I am not sure how else they can limit their risk-asking their customers is not certain to result in truthful answers, and while they try to screen for illness upon boarding, victims may not show symptoms yet. I don’t think they can cancel all cruises until the virus ends and survive financially.
The question ‘have you travelled to affected areas’ may not be useful. People may not understand the question due to language barriers. They may lie. After all, they’ve traveled a long way and paid thousands so the incentive is there.
The passport based screening reassures other passengers. I am sure cruise bookings are way down. The cruise industry is trying to save itself.